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Applications for mortgages for new home purchases decreased 8% in July compared with June but increased 2.4% compared with July 2015 according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Builder Applications Survey (BAS)

The month-over-month decrease in applications is part of the normal seasonal pattern this time of year. However the momentum experienced during February and March seems to have slowed.

68.5% of loan applications were for conventional mortgages,17.2% were Federal Housing Administration. 13.6% Veterans Affairs loans, about 0.7% were U.S. Department of Agriculture/Rural Housing Service loans.

The average loan size for a new home in July was $325,843, down from $326,175 in June.

The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties decreased 11 basis points to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.66 percent of all loans outstanding at the end of the second quarter of 2016. This was the lowest level since the second quarter of 2006. The delinquency rate was 64 basis points lower than one year ago,

The statistics of the new homes, the decrease in delinquency combined with with historic low interest rates shows a stable real estate market prevailing as we move from Summer to Fall

Pending home sales rose for the third consecutive month in April and reached their highest level in over a decade, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR).All major regions saw gains in contract activity last month except for the Midwest, which saw a meager decline.

The Pending Home Sales Index – a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings for homes that have not yet sold – hiked 5.1 percent higher to 116.3 in April from an upwardly revised 110.7 in March. Year-to-year, it’s 4.6 percent above April 2015 (111.2).

After last month’s gain, the index has now increased year-over-year for 20 consecutive months. Vast gains in the South and West propelled April’s pending sales in April to its highest level since February 2006 (117.4).

Pending sales in the Northeast climbed 1.2 percent to 98.2 in April, and are now 10.1 percent above a year ago. In the Midwest, the index declined slightly (0.6 percent) to 112.9 in April, but it’s still 2.0 percent above April 2015.

Pending home sales in the South jumped 6.8 percent to an index of 133.9 in April – 5.1 percent higher than last April. The index in the West soared 11.4 percent in April to 106.2, and it’s now 2.8 percent above a year ago.

The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits/jobless claims unexpectedly declined last week to match a more than 42-year low, indicating employers are upbeat about the economy.

As per the rcent report released by the Labor Department , jobless claims dropped by 13,000 to 253,000 in the week ended April 9, equaling the level in March that was the lowest since November 1973.

Scant dismissals along with persistent additions to headcounts indicate companies are looking beyond the recent softness in the economy. A jobless rate near an eight-year low and the healthy outlook for employment are among reasons some economists project consumer spending and growth to pick up this quarter.

No states or U.S. territories estimated jobless claims and there was nothing unusual in the figures, according to the Labor Department.

Continuing Claims

The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits fell by 18,000 to 2.17 million in the week ended April 2, the lowest since the period ended Oct. 17. The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits held at 1.6 percent. These data are reported with a one-week lag.

The four-week average of continuing claims dropped to 2.18 million, the lowest since November 2000.

For 58 consecutive weeks claims have been below the 300,000 level that economists say is typically consistent with an improving job market. That’s the longest stretch since 1973.

Job Openings

Data from the Labor Department on April 5 showed that in February, job listings were still abundant more Americans voluntarily left their positions, signaling growing confidence in being able to land a new job.

The March jobs report, also released earlier this month, showed employers added 215,000 workers to payrolls after a 245,000 February advance, while the jobless rate edged up to 5 percent as more people entered the labor force.

Initial jobless claims reflect weekly firings, and a sustained low level of applications has typically coincided with faster job gains. Layoffs may also reflect company- or industry-specific causes, such as cost-cutting or business restructuring, rather than underlying labor market trends.

Orlando led the nation in job growth with 52,200 jobs created in the 12 months ending in December 2015, according to revised data released by the U.S. Department of Labor. Employment growth in 2015 came in at a revised 4.6 percent, making Orlando the fastest-growing of the 30 regions in the country with an employment base of at least one million jobs.

The revised 2015 total is Orlando’s highest annual gain since 2004, extending a run of recent growth that now brings total net gains since early 2010 to almost 215,000 jobs, far surpassing the 120,000 lost during the recession. The revised count means the region added an average of close to 150 jobs per day in 2015, with almost all major industries participating. Business services was the dominant contributor at more than 44 new jobs daily, followed by the region’s headline tourism industry at 27 jobs per day.

“This revised official data confirms Orlando’s position as the country’s leading job growth center,” said Orlando EDC Chair David Fuller, President of the SunTrust Foundation. “These numbers show our efforts to showcase Orlando as not just a great place to visit, but a great place to do business through our branding campaign, “Orlando, You don’t know the half of it.®” are paying off.”

Orlando was also at the top of a recent Gallup study. Among large cities, Oralndo was no.1 in the nation for job creation in 2015, ranking higher than Salt Lake City, Austin, Louisville and Kentucky.

The study scored employees reports on hiring activity and used a job index score based on the percentage of workers in each metro area who say their employer is hiring workers and expanding the size of its workforce minus the percentage who say their employer is reducing the size of its workforce